Reliability of children's self-reported internalizing symptoms over short to medium-length time intervals.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether children between the ages of 8 and 12 years are able to reliably report internalizing symptoms over short to medium-length time intervals as measured by an objective self-report instrument of internalizing symptoms.


METHODS
The Internalizing Symptoms Scale for Children (ISSC) was group-administered initially to 131 children and at subsequent intervals of 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 12 weeks.


RESULTS
Pearson product-moment correlations for the ISSC total scores of the participants were computed across the various retest intervals. At 2 weeks, the correlation was .84. At 4 weeks, the correlation was .76. After 12 weeks, the correlation was .74.


CONCLUSIONS
These data indicate that children between 8 and 12 years old can reliably report their experience over short to medium-length intervals. These findings provide strong support for the ISSC as a research and clinical instrument for the assessment of internalizing symptoms in children between 8 and 12 years of age, which may ultimately prove beneficial in the identification and treatment of childhood internalizing disorders. Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.
Michael
K D
KD
Center for Persons with Disabilities, Utah State University, Logan, USA.
Merrell
K W
KW
D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000523:psychology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D002666:Psychology, Child; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012647:Self-Assessment